Small study adds fuel to Nintendo's casual gamer fire

by Blake Snow { Oct 4th 2006 at 5:35PM }

A new study commissioned by casual game developer PopCap Games has found that 66% of the estimated 150 million consumers that play casual games are old (or young depending how old you are); over 50 to be exact. The study noted that the majority of older gamers prefer playing titles -- often daily -- for mental workout, stress relief, even pain distraction.

GameDaily reports: "With all the talk recently of broadening the audience for video games, publishers would be wise to keep in mind that people over the age of 50 like to be entertained and play games too. There's such a strong focus on the 18-34 demographic that game companies could be missing out on a real opportunity to bring in older players."

Gamers with more purchasing power as well. The study randomly polled 2,000+ online respondents including the dancing duo you see pictured.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Firegirl @ Oct 4th 2006 5:43PM

So, are all the Wii owners going to be wearing depends?

daryl/me/azn1080p/ethan @ Oct 4th 2006 5:45PM

I think they should really look into the PS3. The highly sophisticated controller will give them the mental workout, Watching comedy BluRay movies will give them the stress relief, and the 1080p graphics can definitely be used as a pain distraction.

howhow @ Oct 4th 2006 5:48PM

my mom and aunt are both HUGE DS freaks. Hours a day.

puts my addiction to shame

bododot @ Oct 4th 2006 6:59PM

Number 2,

Haha! Haha! Very funny. Unless the can shell out 599 US dollars, I only think they'd like RIIIDGGGE RAAACCCEEERRR!

joe smith @ Oct 4th 2006 6:16PM

So somehow, a game system that requires MORE interactivity and movement will be more accessible to the over 50 set?

I am not sure I buy that older casual gamers want to be up and moving and playing with imaginary guns and swords.

Redbugz007 @ Oct 4th 2006 6:19PM

this is true my negihboor's grandmother is near 70's and she is a bigger gamer then me, she mainly plays GC so i thinks she will buy the Wii She eaisly beats her grandson (18 yrso) any mario multiplayer and she plays alot of Final Fantasy too.

darryl @ Oct 4th 2006 6:42PM

My mom is 56 and plays RTS and puzzle PC games every single day. I have yet to beat her at Dungeon Keeper 2. She has expressed zero interest in the Wii or anything else Nintendo to my surprise. Then again, the games she likes are usually quite violent and gory, perhaps that's part of it. Also, at the end of a long day, I think the Wii isn't exactly her idea of relaxing.

Who knows though, she hasen't tried it. When it's out and she demos it, I'll be curious to see if her opinion changes.

scott @ Oct 4th 2006 6:59PM

Yeah, and 90% of that 66% play Minesweeper.

truplaya @ Oct 4th 2006 7:06PM

My parents are more casual gamers than my grandparents. My grandma though, will watch, but she rarely plays. My mom and dad play GC games with me sometimes. They don't win, but they like playing.

but anyways, my mom saw it on the news the other day and thought it was just a game that you swing your arms around at. Maybe I can get her to take me to Gamestop so she can see it in action.

RageOverdose @ Oct 4th 2006 7:10PM

Joe Smith:

Have you ever tried to explain a game to people who don't (or never did) play them, especially older folk? The buttons are confusing to them. Saying "Swing the controller like the golf club to swing the club in the game," is a lot easier to figure out, since you're doing the similar motion in real life rather than simulating it on buttons. Feels more like you're actually playing golf. That's the idea. Of course, if you have sever arthiritis or whatnot, then you probably can't play the Wii, but then again, you wouldn't be playing games at all either.

vaylen @ Oct 4th 2006 7:23PM

Nintendo is about to find out that these people may play minesweeper and solitaire on their PC or even a handheld game system (DS anyone?) but they DON'T buy consoles to play on their TV and they aren't about to start. The lesson will be learned soon enough.

Senshida @ Oct 4th 2006 7:35PM

My ma plays a few games. And my grandma likes wrestling games. (she loves WWE)

cagedog @ Oct 4th 2006 7:49PM

I for one am going to buy Wiis for my Mom and Dad. Dad's getting to old to play tennis for real but he would totally love tennis on the Wii and it will give him and his wife something to do. Plus, it'll make it easier for us to share pictures.

There are a lot of 30-something gamers out there that miss the old days of Nintendo and can afford to get one for their parents. My parents used to accuse me of spending too much time playing video games and I can't wait to turn the tables on them.

otakucode @ Oct 4th 2006 10:04PM

OK, so let's say you're a developer. You find out that 66% of your customers are 50+. What do you do? Do you change the types of games you're making? Only if you want to lose that market. So take note developers, we don't want to see you bringing us "Metamucil's Bewjewled 4". You've got it good now, with a wide spread of an audience unlike other segments of the gaming industry. Don't screw it up.

Anonymouse Rep @ Oct 4th 2006 9:51PM

Actually, scott - they don't play Minesweeper.

They play Bejeweled or Family Feud or Zuma - all of those, I've got an hour to kill, I'm going to sit down and relax with this kind of game. That's one reason the 'bargain bin' of software at Best Buy and Staples is where you'll tend to find the older crowd - they're just looking for something to put the disk in and play.

As I've said before, people my age are the last ones who did NOT have computers in high school - or calculators, for that matter. (A reasonably priced calculator - 4 banger that you can now buy for a $1 but then cost $75 - came out my senior year. My physics teacher was impressed.) Computers were around - but in this era pre-PC, a small computer was a DEC PDP-11/40.

Now that people my parents age have been exposed to computers for 30 years, the mystery and mystique of getting it working may still be there, but the ability and desire to use a computer for gaming, geneology, e-mail, playing CD's are just as strong if not more so with the older crowd.

MSaccarello @ Oct 4th 2006 10:40PM

60% of the time, old people play every time

tc @ Oct 5th 2006 4:35AM

@MSaccarello

Wish I could digg your comment for the Anchorman reference.

doom3 @ Oct 5th 2006 6:43PM

It's fuuny but the Wii's controller option lead them sleves more to a crowd that doesn't want button combonations for their games... They want to press a button and pick some thing up a movie it... Hell If you make a virtual gardem then they would be all over it...LOL I guess that one will be in pikman. What is funny also is the people in rest homes have way more time to entertain them selves than any one else. So the way things are going it's going to be sweet to hit 40 and 60,,,LOL

computer games @ Oct 5th 2006 9:52AM

Casual games are big now that's for sure. They are not even indie for the most part any more with not only bigger and bigger companies getting involved but all the major hardware (console) makers too.

In about five years, the new niche games will be shooters and racers and the smallest market will be the 12-24 age group... ;)

stever @ Oct 7th 2006 3:00PM

@ vaylen

Thats the whole point! They wouldnt be breaking down barriers if they werent there. the wii will be simple to use and will have games to suit all ages for both male and female, not just for 14-20 year old males.

The Doctor @ Oct 5th 2006 7:18PM

Nintendo have always been the kings of casual games. Thing is, it's so easy for people to get these mixed up with 'childish' games.

My Gran would only ever play GC, she wasn't a fanboy(or girl), but just didn't have the patience to figure out complex games. I'm just the same, was really disappointed when I bought a PS2 and found out most games have a learning curve :(

hector @ Oct 6th 2006 3:18AM

I'm 56, been playing games about 10 years now. First console game I played was Super Mario 64 — which remains the best game I've ever played (Mario Sunshine was a huge disappointment). At this stage, FPS games are too intense for my aging nervous system. I like turn-based RPGs, because for the most part they require thought and the acquisition of an intuitive feel for the battle engine, rather than lightning-quick reflexes. I also like platformers, although they seem to be a dying breed.

There's a guy in his eighties down the street who just loves flight simulators.

If developers want to market to older people, they just need to design games that don't require the reaction times of a seventeen-year old. Other than that, older gamers are individuals, just like younger gamers, and will have different tastes in the games they like. Stereotyping your elders as all being solitaire players is just stupid.